Promises We Made
by Aikaro
Summary: As Sora sleeps peacefully, both Riku and Namine work to repair his dissected and torn heart. With Namine basically a living testament to Riku's failure to protect his friends from himself, she is hard for him to acknowledge. But when they work together to awaken Sora, they learn a little more about each other, and find they have more in common than they seem. [ RikuNami / Namiku ]
1. The same goal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts nor any of the characters.**

"…How's he holding up?"

A small blonde stood lingering in a near-empty space of white nothingness, letting the words sink in as she fumbled for an answer. The egg-like containment chamber she guarded with her stare provided no evidence to suggest anything had changed since the inquiry was last spoken. Its subject, who floated with his eyes shut tight, did not seem to have healed. Time stood as it did almost a year ago in this room, with the exception of the boy's natural pubertal growth, and it worried his protectors. The fact that they could not see any progress gave a hinder on their efforts, and it could very well be that they were on the wrong path altogether, or almost to the fully healed stage. There was essentially no way of knowing. They both knew this by now. The question this man asked was but an awkward greeting. The one thing this petite, yellow-haired witch and this strong but darkened hero shared were their efforts in bringing this boy back to life. For the most part, this was the understanding, though the two did share more traits than they cared to acknowledge. But in this awkward air, each stayed in his or her own world, preferring the sanctity of their lone selves over opening up to an almost complete stranger.

The only conscious male in the room saw his question go unanswered and gravitated toward the chamber that safe-housed his friend, not looking at his female companion as her head moved slightly to watch him. She wondered how he could move about so easily when he deliberately kept his eyes covered with cloth, though she could not muster up the courage to ask why he chose to do so. He felt her stare upon him, but it could not sway his attention from the preserved child before him, a boy who he had once played with carefree, who shared his ambitions and his energy. There was a time where he would catch this friend asleep on the sandy banks of their island home, and he would observe such an innocent and relaxed expression on his face, as the one the boy carries now, in his new slumber.

"Hmph. Funny how Sora can be at such peace when he doesn't know what trouble we're going through for him."

He smirked at his own flat humor, the only thing keeping him sane during his quest to repair this boy he had unintentionally broken. She watched his head turn to her, and for a hair of a second, she had forgotten his pupils were covered, as they felt as though they were piercing hers with such intensity as she'd never known. His gentle smile relaxed her and she felt more at ease, a rare moment between two companions worked to the bone repairing a mutual friend's broken heart. A heart they both ruined in their own way and time. A heart they shared the blame for shattering.

**Please review! Chapter two to come soon.**


	2. Business as usual

She sat as she always did, in her little white room in their largely empty home, crayon in hand etching away on a closely-held sketchbook. Surrounded constantly by her work reconstructing the broken chain of memories, the sketches on the wall, there was no time to focus on herself. And why should she? She had no heart of her own to speak of, no chain of memories so fragile and true. She could not feel anything but the crayon's wax her fingernails accidentally dug into as she worked tirelessly away. She was an empty shell in motion; a husk of a tragedy among friends. There was no reason for why she should exist, no place for her in any world, an abomination which by all means was never supposed to occur.

But this did not put a damper on her enthusiasm in righting her wrong, and she continued to peacefully orchestrate the linking together of the chains of memory on her canvas, even humming a bit to keep herself company. Lies fed to her by her captors run through her head and play images behind her eyes, clouding her concentration. They quickly dissipated as her mind worked onward, dismissing these aside so she could replace them with Sora's memories.

Her body did not stir as violently as it used to when the whirling oval of violet darkness appeared on the opposite end of the room. She was finally getting accustomed to his abrupt entrances, and learning not to expect something horrible from the other end of the portal, as she had in her time in Castle Oblivion. He observed that she did not wince at his approach, glad she was finally overcoming her fear. She heard the familiar sound of a grocery bag settling on the marble table, clanking and rustling before finding a restful shape. As engulfed in her work as ever, she almost failed to notice the blue treat being offered her before it dripped on her work. He waited patiently as she slowly raised a hand and took the ice cream, being careful not to make too much contact with his fingers. When she accepted the gift, he took his own out of the bag and unwrapped it at his seat, the chair at the other end of this long table of hers, offering plenty of space between them. She had the feeling he wanted to talk, unusual for this man of such few words, and gently put her work down on this table they shared to show she was ready to listen. The silence remained still in the little white room, as he took his time to glance to his left at a drawing of a little forlorn red-head standing on a shore, and he flinched before he looked again at this girl in the room with him, a yellow-haired and porcelain version of her. She took no notice of this and calmly sat straight up in her chair to nudge him to speak. He positioned himself with his hands clasped together on the table, finally finding the words most suitable for his concerns.

"I saw Xion today."

This was no surprise; it was his goal to locate her today after all. But he did not waste words on trivial matters, and so she listened with great intent. He continued, a little more urgently.

"She looks a lot like you."

It was almost warmth she felt from this, when the corners of his mouth twitched into a small smile, as if he thought she was the most beautiful creature. But this was only him mistaking her for his scarlet companion. She knew this because she herself had seen this new girl, and could easily see how she was related to the island beauty. It was an honest mistake on his part, however, so she pushed this thought process out of her mind and opened her mouth, as it was her turn to speak.

"Then the process has begun."

It was comforting to hear the things he already knew, and he nodded.

"I'll keep track of our progress through her stages, then."

She flashed him a small smile, gentle and pure, as was her nature, and he was taken aback at how friendly she was to him, while he was mostly cold. He supposed one without a heart could not feel loneliness or despair, but every time she smiled like this, a twinkle in her eye suggested it was but a façade. They sat there without a word, glancing at all the little scenes taped up to the surrounding walls, taking each in stride. The only reason they sat face to face across this table, was the breaking of the heart that these drawings repaired.

**Sorry my chapters are so short. Please review! Thanks!**


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